John Millikan

Sat, 2012-04-28 23:50 -- batch_migrate

Alumni: John Millikan

I chose to pursue a career in journalism because I knew I had the ability to write, and I enjoyed sharing my views with others. When I realized the possibility of writing about sports, for which I have a true passion, I knew I had discovered what I wanted to do with the rest of my life.

I remember walking into Dr. David Baird’s office and telling him I was interested in journalism. After getting to know me a little bit, he told me about an opportunity to work with AU’s sports information director and write sports part-time for a small weekly newspaper in Pendleton.

Being sports editor and associate editor of The Andersonian helped me immensely in my career. It gave me experience in working on deadline and designing pages. We used Adobe InDesign as our pagination program, which is the premier design program used by papers now. The editors were challenged to completely layout the weekly paper, a skill that is vital in today’s newsroom. A good writer can find a job in this business, but a good writer who knows how to design pages and take pictures will have all kinds of job offers.

While working at The Andersonian was important, the professional journalism experience I received while a student at AU really prepared me for my career. I contributed both sports and news articles to The Pendleton Times, The Herald Bulletin in Anderson, The Muncie Star Press, and The Pendleton News, which gave me the clips I needed to get my first job out of college, as sports editor at The Sullivan Daily Times in Sullivan, Ind.

At The Sullivan Daily Times, I was responsible for pagination, reporting, editing, and photography of the sports section. That diverse experience was key in me being offered my current job at The Albany Herald in Georgia. There were more than a hundred applicants for the college beat writer at The Albany Herald, but I was selected because of everything I brought to the table other than my writing skills.

John Millikan
BA 2009, Anderson University
Communication Arts major (journalism); political science minor
College beat sports writer at The Albany Herald in Albany, Ga.